Pages

9.17.2016

About a month ago, the girls and I switched from our beds to hammocks. This spring I went on several backpack trips, and I discovered I love sleeping in a hammock. Then the kids and I took a week long primitive camping trip, and we all took to sleeping in the trees like the Greeks over 2000 years ago. We loved it.

When we got home and had to sleep in our beds, we were not happy. Some of us decided sleeping outside in the trees was preferred. With several thunderstorms looming, I spent the better part of a day researching how we could hang our hammocks inside. I was a little leery since the RV walls are constructed differently. After lots of researching, I came to the conclusion we had to do the old trial and error method. I bought eye bolts and hung the hammocks. Then I picked the child who weighted the least, and cheered them on as they cautiously crawled into the hammock. YEAH! It held! We tried the next one, and so on until we had all tried them out. Nobody came crashing to the floor, and the eyebolts only caused minor creaking from the walls. There have even been times when the twins crawl into my hammock and cuddle - three of us hanging from those two little eyebolts in these RV walls - quite an accomplishment if you ask me.

I feel like I am sleeping better, and the research done by the Swiss, confirms my experience. The study showed the participants fell asleep faster, slept deeper, and helped alleviate pressure point pain. Separate sleep studies show that by getting quality sleep we are better readers, have more energy, and have increased learning abilities. Plus it is just fun. The gentle swaying brings back memories of easy, lazy days, and today, it was nice to take my "bed" outside for a beautiful Fall nap.

9.14.2016

As autumn is blowing in strong, the children remind me of a
Fall family tradition.

One Fall, while
living in our stick and brick (S&B), we had an abundance of apples.We had a pantry lined with jars of
applesauce and slice apples, a freezer full of apple pie filling, and best of
all – canning memories with the besties.(Oh, it is easy to pine for those days). On that Fall day, which seems
like so many moons ago, I began thumbing through the 70’s Better Home and
Garden Cookbook, and came upon Apple Fritters.Who knew this recipe/ritual would become a pivotal turning point on the Trochesset wheel?

For weeks now, Maia has been reminding me, like a cold gusty
Autumn wind, that it is Apple Fritter time.So, this morning we officially ushered in the Mabon season with these
yummy little puffball donuts.They did
not disappoint.

Because of some dietary changes we have made in our diets, we
made them gluten, dairy, and “sugar” free.We used Pamela’s gluten free flour, chai seed egg substitute, and Agave
syrup.Although I would still not
consider this a health food, I feel this recipe is better for our digestive
system.The flour substitute is an equal
flour for flour.The chia seed is three
tablespoons water and two tablespoons ground chia seeds mixed together to form
and egg like liquid. And the Agave is an equal sweetener to sugar.Walla – Vegan, Gluten-free Apple Fritters!

I also think because of our dietary changes, and not eating
sweets on a regular basis, today we enjoyed these little treats so much
more.If you do choose to try these, be careful,
they might turn into a forever kind of thing.